What influence did Akko have on Europe ?
Akko is old Acre or Acco and is in Israel. At one time it was a leading port city in the Middle East and competed for trade with such highly regarded places as Constantinople in Greco-Rome and Alexandria in Greco-Egypt.
It starts out as a settlement on a mount sometime between 2000 and 1500 BC. Back then it was called Tel Akko, or Tel el-Fukhar, or Mound of Potsherds.
Pot-sherds are fragments of pottery. These ceramic shards can contain great information about history since ceramic pottery was often decorated with pictorial stories or anecdotes of the time the clay was moulded.
Akko becomes St Jean d'Acre in about 1100 AD when the crusaders founded the Kingdom of Jerusalem. After a few years of crusader battles against fortified Akko the city is surrendered to King Baldwin I. The crusaders got busy in rebuilding the city and fortified it as best they could. They invested plenty of time and money in securing the seaport at Acre. However their efforts were no match for the Muslim who recaptured the Akko mound in 1187 at the Battle the Battle of the Horns of Hattin. A Muslim victory for Saladin meant that the Christian were once again moved off St John's Acre.
But King Richard I of England soon returns and in 1191, with the help of Philip Augustus, King of France, he leads a third crusade and ousts the Muslims.
A long time before these battles the Tel el Fukhar had been a Phoenician port of trade and a pivot point in mercantilism along the silk trade road. It was a point that could take goods from the middle east or even the far east to the any location along the Mediterranean shores. It was such a good location that it attracted the mighty armies of Alexander the Great who won it over. Tel Akko becomes Ptolamais.
These notes are just thoughts and the fuller story is told here under Akko : The Maritime Capital of the Crusader Kingdom.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Europe city-states
In an attempt to understand the Europe city-states mentioned in European history, I went searching.
This is what I found about the city-states of Europe.
Any of these names are associated to city-state.
City-states were garrisoned by walls and within these walls industry and commerce was what kept the political machine working. Outside the walls, much land was available for farming, or for working mines and raising animals. These lands became feudal grounds and areas often defended by condottieri, merchant military leaders who dealt in providing mercenary soldiers to any feudal king, monarch, or pope who could afford to pay the price.
Until about 1200 AD city-states were run by feudal nobility or by landed aristocrats who shared power with rich merchants. This often led to power struggles within the city-state walls. Craftsmen guilds and other unions became powerful enough to challenge the nobles and the aristocrats. City-states also were vulnerable to struggles with neighbouring city-states. After 1200 AD new politics are emerging in the garrison walled cities of Europe.
A type of republic was tried were officials were elected by citizens. The elected chief had two councils. One of public opinion and one of private opinion. One public. One secret. Much of the Renaissance saw city states run by the rules of despotism which is basically a system of oligarchy or autocracy where a single person called a despot rules. Oligarchal rule is usually bloodline oriented and family names like Medici, Orsini, and others are popular brands of bloodline despotic ruling class.
Cosimo de Medici, a Republican era leading Florence figure, for example, revived Plato when he sponsored Gemistus Pletho who founded a discussion group called the Platonic Academy in Florence. The Neo-Platonic Academy continues to exist when Cosimo's grandson is heading Florence. Lorenzo is well acquainted with the greats of the Renaissance. Michelangelo is often at is table and joins Lorenzo in the meetings of the Platonic Academy.
___________________
Where to next.....
Shifting allegiances with the political winds of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.
____________________
Always open to suggestions and corrections
This is what I found about the city-states of Europe.
Any of these names are associated to city-state.
- Milan
- Rome
- Florence
- Venice
- Genoa
- Bologna
City-states were garrisoned by walls and within these walls industry and commerce was what kept the political machine working. Outside the walls, much land was available for farming, or for working mines and raising animals. These lands became feudal grounds and areas often defended by condottieri, merchant military leaders who dealt in providing mercenary soldiers to any feudal king, monarch, or pope who could afford to pay the price.
Until about 1200 AD city-states were run by feudal nobility or by landed aristocrats who shared power with rich merchants. This often led to power struggles within the city-state walls. Craftsmen guilds and other unions became powerful enough to challenge the nobles and the aristocrats. City-states also were vulnerable to struggles with neighbouring city-states. After 1200 AD new politics are emerging in the garrison walled cities of Europe.
A type of republic was tried were officials were elected by citizens. The elected chief had two councils. One of public opinion and one of private opinion. One public. One secret. Much of the Renaissance saw city states run by the rules of despotism which is basically a system of oligarchy or autocracy where a single person called a despot rules. Oligarchal rule is usually bloodline oriented and family names like Medici, Orsini, and others are popular brands of bloodline despotic ruling class.
Cosimo de Medici, a Republican era leading Florence figure, for example, revived Plato when he sponsored Gemistus Pletho who founded a discussion group called the Platonic Academy in Florence. The Neo-Platonic Academy continues to exist when Cosimo's grandson is heading Florence. Lorenzo is well acquainted with the greats of the Renaissance. Michelangelo is often at is table and joins Lorenzo in the meetings of the Platonic Academy.
___________________
Where to next.....
Shifting allegiances with the political winds of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.
____________________
Always open to suggestions and corrections
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
countries of europe
What are the countries of Europe ?
How many countries are in Europe ?
There are 10 countries in eastern Europe.
How many countries are in Europe ?
There are 10 countries in eastern Europe.
- Belarus
- Bulgaria
- Czech Republic
- Hungary
- Moldova
- Poland
- Romania
- Russian Federation
- Slovakia
- Ukraine
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Faroe Islands
- Finland
- Greenland
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Northern Ireland
- Norway
- Scotland
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- Wales
- Albania
- Andorra
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Italy
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Portugal
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovania
- Spain
- Turkey
- Vatican City
- Austria
- Belgium
- France
- Germany
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- Switzerland
Plato and the Thirty tyrrants
One of the main characters in Greek history is Plato the philosopher.
Here's an attempt at understanding Plato and the thirty tyrrants who ruled Athens after the Peloponnesian war ended.
Some notes come from AE Taylor (1869-1945) - British philosopher, writer and educator, Oxford educated. Books include
About Plato he writes that the life story of the Greek philosopher is recounted by Apuleius in about 200 AD and then by Diogenes of Laerte in about 250 AD. Further attempts at writing biographies about Plato come in about 600 AD with the neo-platonic age.
Plato himself only writes two facts about his life, states Taylor.
Xenophon, the contemporary of Plato, states that the philosopher was a member of the inner Socrates circle.
Aristotle tells that Plato had been a pupil of Cratylus the Heracitean philosopher before meeting up with Socrates.
Plato is born at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, in 427 BC. He dies at the age of 81 in 346 BC. (mentioned in the work of Diogenes).
The Peloponnesian war was fought in three stages from 431 BC to 404 BC and reshaped the Greek world. It was a war fought with the empire of Athens going up against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta.
Wars
Phase One - Archidamian war ends with the Peace of Nicias treaty ( 431-421)
Phase two - not named by Taylor starts in 415 BC
Phase three - Decelean war - aka. Ionian war
At the beginning of the war Athens is one of the most powerful city-states in Greece. By the end of the war Athens is left nearly powerless and suzerains to the now powerful Spartans.
Athens had been attempting to live in a democracy.
Sparta meanwhile was going to lead by the rules of oligarchy.
The Athenian democracy had started some 50 years earlier when the Delian league, a group of city-states who’d fought for sovereignty against the Persian and who’d chosen to keep their treasury on the island of Delos, began to conquer and influence all of Greece. However they Delian league never got into the politics of the Spartan who were themselves working with the Peloponnesian league.
Greece had been invaded by Persia in 480 BC.
Plato and the thirty tyrants is a story that unfolds when the golden age of Greece is said to end.
Who were the thirty tyrants ?
Did Athens recover from the might of the oligarchs from Sparta who were known as the Council of Thirty ?
We look at that in a future post....
Here's an attempt at understanding Plato and the thirty tyrrants who ruled Athens after the Peloponnesian war ended.
Some notes come from AE Taylor (1869-1945) - British philosopher, writer and educator, Oxford educated. Books include
- elements of metaphysics
- Plato
- The Mind of Plato
- Platonism and its influence
- Plato and the Authorship of the Epinomis
- The Faith of a Moralist
- more
Plato himself only writes two facts about his life, states Taylor.
- In Apology, Plato states “ present in the court of my master Socrates and he was one of the friends who offered to be surety for payment of any fine which might be imposed on the old philosopher.
- In Phaedo, “ absent from the famous death scene in the prison, owing to an illness....
Xenophon, the contemporary of Plato, states that the philosopher was a member of the inner Socrates circle.
Aristotle tells that Plato had been a pupil of Cratylus the Heracitean philosopher before meeting up with Socrates.
Plato is born at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, in 427 BC. He dies at the age of 81 in 346 BC. (mentioned in the work of Diogenes).
The Peloponnesian war was fought in three stages from 431 BC to 404 BC and reshaped the Greek world. It was a war fought with the empire of Athens going up against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta.
Wars
Phase One - Archidamian war ends with the Peace of Nicias treaty ( 431-421)
- Sparta invades Attica more than once
- Athens mighty navy raids the Peloponnese coast in the hopes of putting an end to civil unrest
Phase two - not named by Taylor starts in 415 BC
- fighting breaks out in the Peloponnese
- Athens attacks Syracuse in Sicily and lose the entire fleet by 413 BC.
Phase three - Decelean war - aka. Ionian war
- Persian forces ally with Sparta and subdue Athens
- Persian and Peloponnese League destroy Athens fleet
 |
| Plato and Aristotle ________ Interesting long bearded Plato maybe he was an early lombard ??? |
Athens had been attempting to live in a democracy.
Sparta meanwhile was going to lead by the rules of oligarchy.
The Athenian democracy had started some 50 years earlier when the Delian league, a group of city-states who’d fought for sovereignty against the Persian and who’d chosen to keep their treasury on the island of Delos, began to conquer and influence all of Greece. However they Delian league never got into the politics of the Spartan who were themselves working with the Peloponnesian league.
Greece had been invaded by Persia in 480 BC.
Plato and the thirty tyrants is a story that unfolds when the golden age of Greece is said to end.
Who were the thirty tyrants ?
Did Athens recover from the might of the oligarchs from Sparta who were known as the Council of Thirty ?
We look at that in a future post....
Monday, October 4, 2010
Italy before being a European Union nation
What was Italy like before joining the EU and before being one of the current seventeen nations that trade the Euro?
Italia, with the magnificence of its eternal city of Roma, offers some of the most interesting history on the planet.
A common question about the ancient history of Italy is whether or the history of Italy is the history of Rome. Italy as we know it today is a peninsula with the Alps forming the north and northwest boundary, the Adriatic sea being the east border, the Mediterranean on the south, and Mare Tyrrhenum or the Tyrrhenian sea forming the western border. The Alps form a natural barrier which seperates Italy from the rest of Europe. From Mont Blanc to the sea the mountains which peak in places at 15 thousand feet above sea level formed a natural defense for the ancient cultures of this peninsula. The Appenines (maritime Alps ) are another mountain range which adds to the Italian landscape. On the Mediterranean side the Islands of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia also play a major role in the historical development of the Eternal City of Rome and of Italy. Fresh water rivers such as the Po and the Athesis are fed by tributary streams like the Duria, and the Trebia. Italian fresh water lakes mark the landscape along these waterways.
From the time of the ice age to the Holocene period (c. 10 BC ) there were frequent periods where glaciers either formed or retreated from the Alps and Apennines. Hunter gathering cave dwellers shifted with these climatic changes. There is half a million years of prehistory in the Italian peninsula. Sometime between 10 thousand years ago and six thousand years ago the early Italians became agricultural city dwellers, capable of raising animals, weaving textiles, and building clay structures and wooden sea fairing vessels. Cultures such as the Veneto, the Campignian, the Gargano, and others advance into the copper age and the bronze age.
By 1000 BC the are into the iron age as are the neighbouring Greeks and Phoenician and others. About this time the Etruscan civilization is developing and occupying lands. The Veneti culture is older. While Venitian is a romantic language it is not the original language of the Veniti culture. This Veniti cultural language looks more like a precursor to Latin and as similarities to some Celtic and Germanic languages ( wikipedia ). The Adriatic Veneti go on to battle the Celts and the Greeks and later ally with the Romans in the Second Punic War. The origin of the Veneti culture is likely the Eneti people mentioned by Homer in the Iliad. Other ancients who mention assimilations of the Enotoi and Veneti include Titus Livius and Pliny the Elder.
The Etruscans are more mystical in nature. The people of Etruria are the Tyrrhenians and they were an advanced culture which predate the Romans. Once Rome was established the Etruscans seem to have conquered the Eternal city for a time. What art and architecture is left of these mysterious people seems to show some Greek influence. In the end the Etruscans, like the Veneti, were assimilated in the Roman empire.
Since history is open to interpretation then here is our take on the Etruscans. It is pure speculation however. Herodotus mentions that the Etruscans are a revolutionary group who took stem from Anatolia and who invaded Etruria sometime between 1000 and 800 BC. Another legend goes that the god Mars, through the magic of poiesis, created Remus and Romulus. These two brothers were revolutionaries who went on to build the foundation of a new culture. Remus and Romulus needed a city to promote their sovereignty and they argued about the name of this city. In the heat of the argument Romulus kills Remus and names his eternal city Roma.
Could Remus and Romulus have been Etruscans or separatists from a Greek influenced people from Anatolia who were looking to build a new breed of people ? It's all just speculation..............and it's all just politics.....
The Etruscans were chased from Rome in 509 BC states the story of the expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus. And thus began in earnest the process of unifying Italy. ( see Etruscans )
However this is but the first attempt at unifying the Italian peninsula and not the political and military events of the 1800's which led to the Italian Risorgimento or Italian Unification and Kingdom of Italy founded in 1861.
Here's a quick tour of what happens in the Italian peninsula from 800 BC to 1800 AD.
Twentieth Century Italy.
In WW1 Italy allies itself with Britain and France who promise all types of global real estate concessions upon victory. By the end of WW1 Italy is not receiving payment and suffered economically much like Germany when the Deustche Mark hit hyperinflation. Like in Germany where Hitler came to the rescue, Mussolini found means of generating an economy inside Italy.
In 1922 Mussolini is building is reputation by working to expand the pre war Italian conquests. He is looking to Africa and the Ottoman Empire.
In WWII as a socialist military strategist he allies himself and his countrymen to the Nazi Germans when the trio group Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary are formed. This may seem strange when one considers that only a few years before the Italian found independence from Austrian rule through the Risorgimento. However, Austria had recently been purged into the German Nazi web. Mussolini was head of government for the Kingdom of Italy and his socialist political intents are said to have paved the way for full out fascism. He was the leader of National Fascist Party. He had joint control of the Italian military with Vittorio Emanuele III, son of the risorgimento newly elected king. Mussolini was intent on reviving the Roman Empire.
In 1940 the Italian Prime Minister Mussolini declares war on France and Britain. In 1943 Mussolini, the wantabee Hitler, loses all political support from the King Emanuele III who had him arrested and imprisoned. However, Hitler's Nazi came and rescued Mussolini and put him back to work towards building the new Roman Empire. They were now going against Italy.
After the war Italians were immigrating out of Italy towards places like Australia and America in order to get away from the horrendous living conditions. Italy is under reconstruction and many people are unemployed. Many Lira's are being made available by the government for infrastructure projects like running water and sewers but it is a slow process.
By 1957 the Kingdom of Italy joins itself to the European Economic Community which makes Italy one of the six founding members of the European Union.
In 1962 the Vatican under Pope John XIII the right to Italian freedom of democratic government as per the conscience of the voting public
In 1999 Italy adopts the Euro as it's currency of trade both inside the nation and on the international markets. It is amongst the first of the seventeen nations of the Eurozone to replace its fiat currency which up to 1999 was the Italian Lira.
Italia, with the magnificence of its eternal city of Roma, offers some of the most interesting history on the planet.
A common question about the ancient history of Italy is whether or the history of Italy is the history of Rome. Italy as we know it today is a peninsula with the Alps forming the north and northwest boundary, the Adriatic sea being the east border, the Mediterranean on the south, and Mare Tyrrhenum or the Tyrrhenian sea forming the western border. The Alps form a natural barrier which seperates Italy from the rest of Europe. From Mont Blanc to the sea the mountains which peak in places at 15 thousand feet above sea level formed a natural defense for the ancient cultures of this peninsula. The Appenines (maritime Alps ) are another mountain range which adds to the Italian landscape. On the Mediterranean side the Islands of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia also play a major role in the historical development of the Eternal City of Rome and of Italy. Fresh water rivers such as the Po and the Athesis are fed by tributary streams like the Duria, and the Trebia. Italian fresh water lakes mark the landscape along these waterways.
From the time of the ice age to the Holocene period (c. 10 BC ) there were frequent periods where glaciers either formed or retreated from the Alps and Apennines. Hunter gathering cave dwellers shifted with these climatic changes. There is half a million years of prehistory in the Italian peninsula. Sometime between 10 thousand years ago and six thousand years ago the early Italians became agricultural city dwellers, capable of raising animals, weaving textiles, and building clay structures and wooden sea fairing vessels. Cultures such as the Veneto, the Campignian, the Gargano, and others advance into the copper age and the bronze age.
By 1000 BC the are into the iron age as are the neighbouring Greeks and Phoenician and others. About this time the Etruscan civilization is developing and occupying lands. The Veneti culture is older. While Venitian is a romantic language it is not the original language of the Veniti culture. This Veniti cultural language looks more like a precursor to Latin and as similarities to some Celtic and Germanic languages ( wikipedia ). The Adriatic Veneti go on to battle the Celts and the Greeks and later ally with the Romans in the Second Punic War. The origin of the Veneti culture is likely the Eneti people mentioned by Homer in the Iliad. Other ancients who mention assimilations of the Enotoi and Veneti include Titus Livius and Pliny the Elder.
The Etruscans are more mystical in nature. The people of Etruria are the Tyrrhenians and they were an advanced culture which predate the Romans. Once Rome was established the Etruscans seem to have conquered the Eternal city for a time. What art and architecture is left of these mysterious people seems to show some Greek influence. In the end the Etruscans, like the Veneti, were assimilated in the Roman empire.
Since history is open to interpretation then here is our take on the Etruscans. It is pure speculation however. Herodotus mentions that the Etruscans are a revolutionary group who took stem from Anatolia and who invaded Etruria sometime between 1000 and 800 BC. Another legend goes that the god Mars, through the magic of poiesis, created Remus and Romulus. These two brothers were revolutionaries who went on to build the foundation of a new culture. Remus and Romulus needed a city to promote their sovereignty and they argued about the name of this city. In the heat of the argument Romulus kills Remus and names his eternal city Roma.
Could Remus and Romulus have been Etruscans or separatists from a Greek influenced people from Anatolia who were looking to build a new breed of people ? It's all just speculation..............and it's all just politics.....
The Etruscans were chased from Rome in 509 BC states the story of the expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus. And thus began in earnest the process of unifying Italy. ( see Etruscans )
 |
| Adalaide of Italy - image courtesy Wikimedia |
Here's a quick tour of what happens in the Italian peninsula from 800 BC to 1800 AD.
- 753 BC Rome is founded
- 616 BC Tarquinius is crowned
- 534 BC Tarquinius II rises to power
- 509 BC Rome becomes a Republic and the main player in Latium
- 400 BC Gauls plunder Rome
- 334 BC ++ Rome conquers and colonized through the Samnitic wars
- 280 BC Roman coins are circulating
- 264 BC Carthago wars begin
- 100 BC Ally wars and civil wars lead to the dictatorship of Sulla and the rebellions of Spartacus
- 49 BC Caesar becomes new dictator but is killed in 44 BC which leads to the election of Augustus ( Octovianus ) to the rank of Emperor of Rome.
- Rome is rocked by the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD
- 97 AD human sacrifice is outlawed throughout Roman Empire
- Christian persecution is widespread until Constantine becomes Emperor in c. 324 AD - capital is moved to Constantinople 330 AD in Anatolia near Byzantium
- The Roman Empire begins a great division where east is centred around Constantinople and west is ruled by a western emperor and vandals plunder Rome.
- 402 AD Imperial court is moved to Ravenna
- 476 AD Fall of the Western Roman Empire and Romulus Augustus is last Western Emperor.
- c. 500 AD Rome looks to Frankish kingdom and British legion for protection and Theodoric the Great king of the Ostrogoths becomes king of Italy
- Rise of Papal power in Italy begins with the monk Gregory who established six monasteries in Sicily. Gregory is born in c. 540 AD and does is missionary work on the island of Britain
- 540 AD Greco-Roman Byzantium reconquers Italy in Gothic Wars
- 551 AD Lombard King Aistulf captures court city of Ravenna
- 568 to 774 AD Lombard Kings rule Italy - lombards = longobards or men with long beards - start out as Aryan or a mix of community oriented belief but end up accepting Catholicism
- 590 AD Gregory the Monk becomes Gregory I, the Great pope and lord of the city of the Eternal City of Rome
- 774 AD Charlemagne the Frank monarch conquers the northern Italy Lombards and is crowned Emperor of Rome in 800 AD by Pope Leo III at St Peters Basilica
- Under Charlemagne and his successors Italy is part of the Frankish empire.
- c. 850 AD northern Italy is again an independent kingdom
- 950 AD Adelaide, daughter of Rudolf II of Burgundy, consort wife of Otto the Great Holy Roman Emperor, inherits Italy which becomes linked to the German estates and remains this way until the end of the middle ages during which time Holy Roman Emperors rule out of Germany
- Lombard leagues continue to exist and Lombard duchies grow wealthy in the north where cities are left to self styled governments ( vassals to the German based Emperors ). They will eventually move their estates out of feudalism and make them Republics
- The Hohenstaufen German ruling Roman Emperors gain the throne of Italy in the late 1200's which is a crown of the Normans and includes Naples and the island of Sicily and which is associated to the popes who are Catholic oriented
- Middle ages is a period of Holy Crusades and the Catholic popes have a certain amount of power in dictating who is considered the Holy Roman Emperor - an ongoing battle between popes from the south and emperors from the north - a battle between Guelphs and Ghibellines - feudal Italy
- 1389 AD Cosimo the Medici, a wealthy Florentinian leads the Renaissance through institutions like the Platonic Academy which is a revival of the philosophical foundation of the Classical Greek Plato.
- 1449 AD Lorenzo de Medici, son of Cosimo, openly rules as a totalitarian ruler. Pope Leo X is counted amongs his many children.
- 1453 AD conquest of Constantinople can be a marker for end of middle ages and beginning of Renaissance
- Renaissance in Italy begins in Tuscany in the city-states of Florence (Republic), Venice(Republic), Milan (Duchy), Naples (kingdom), and Romagna ( Papal State ).
- During the Renaissance common bankers and capitalists not of the noble class begin to redistribute wealth through commerce via the merchant class (high nobles).
- Renaissance meant returning to a classical learning style but it is a period when many human rights are abolished or downgraded - ie. slavery and human trafficking becomes more prominent, women's right are diminished.....
- Many of these slaves ended up in America via the merchant ships which followed the flags of the earliest European explorers.
- 1796 AD Napoleon Bonaparte sieges the Papal States and established French Roman Republics but papal sovereignty was soon restored - papal secular order was again the norm this highly conservative orthodoxy was not well received after the liberal french methods had been introduced and revolters (Italian Nationalists) brought on the end of the Papal States via a war with Austria ( closer to the House of Savoy and the Kingdom of Sardinia which was under the rule of Ottoman Sultans) and revolts against the northern central duchies, kingdoms, and papal states - the idea was for the creation of a single state for all Italian speaking people
- The duke of Savoy ( Savoie ) in 1720 becomes the king of Sardinia.
- In 1860 the Kingdom of Sardinia under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi set out to conquer southern Italy and the dual rulers become known as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
 |
| The Italian Totalitarian Lorenzo de Medici |
Twentieth Century Italy.
In WW1 Italy allies itself with Britain and France who promise all types of global real estate concessions upon victory. By the end of WW1 Italy is not receiving payment and suffered economically much like Germany when the Deustche Mark hit hyperinflation. Like in Germany where Hitler came to the rescue, Mussolini found means of generating an economy inside Italy.
In 1922 Mussolini is building is reputation by working to expand the pre war Italian conquests. He is looking to Africa and the Ottoman Empire.
In WWII as a socialist military strategist he allies himself and his countrymen to the Nazi Germans when the trio group Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary are formed. This may seem strange when one considers that only a few years before the Italian found independence from Austrian rule through the Risorgimento. However, Austria had recently been purged into the German Nazi web. Mussolini was head of government for the Kingdom of Italy and his socialist political intents are said to have paved the way for full out fascism. He was the leader of National Fascist Party. He had joint control of the Italian military with Vittorio Emanuele III, son of the risorgimento newly elected king. Mussolini was intent on reviving the Roman Empire.
In 1940 the Italian Prime Minister Mussolini declares war on France and Britain. In 1943 Mussolini, the wantabee Hitler, loses all political support from the King Emanuele III who had him arrested and imprisoned. However, Hitler's Nazi came and rescued Mussolini and put him back to work towards building the new Roman Empire. They were now going against Italy.
After the war Italians were immigrating out of Italy towards places like Australia and America in order to get away from the horrendous living conditions. Italy is under reconstruction and many people are unemployed. Many Lira's are being made available by the government for infrastructure projects like running water and sewers but it is a slow process.
By 1957 the Kingdom of Italy joins itself to the European Economic Community which makes Italy one of the six founding members of the European Union.
In 1962 the Vatican under Pope John XIII the right to Italian freedom of democratic government as per the conscience of the voting public
In 1999 Italy adopts the Euro as it's currency of trade both inside the nation and on the international markets. It is amongst the first of the seventeen nations of the Eurozone to replace its fiat currency which up to 1999 was the Italian Lira.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Estonia before it joined the European Union
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| Estonia Flag |
No such entity as Estonia existed before the twentieth century states Toivo Raun in Estonia and Estonians. In 1918 the Republic of Estonia is created.
Estonia borders the Baltic sea, Russia, and Latvia. The Estonian capital is Talinn and it is situated near the Baltic Sea and only about 100 miles across water from Helsinki, Finland.
There are less than 1.5 million people in this small Baltic country. Estonia became a member of the European Union on May 1, 2004 and it is the last of the seventeen nations to adopt the currency rules or the Eurozone or Euro area.
Much of Estonia is completely flat and the highest peak is a mere 318 meters above sea level. The average peak is 100 meters above sea level. This flat land is abundant in limestone and dolomite which is a good resource to have when construction materials are needed. However the economy of Estonia is based on the production of electronic and telecommunication gadgets. It's main trading partners are neighbouring countries such as Finland, Sweden, and Germany. The gross domestic products are 3 percent agricultural, 71 percent services, and 26 percent industry.
About 70 percent of Estonians speak a Uralic language while about 25 percent of the population speaks Russian.
Eurasia was populated by the earliest of humans. The Finno-Ugric emerged in the area where Estonia is today. In about 9000 BC gatherer hunters find resources around the River Parnu and the Kunda culture begins to develop around lakes like Peipsi and Vortsjar.
Recall that 9000 BC is when the period of the great floods occuring. It is the beginning of the Holocene period and the ice is giving way to land. Flash floods would certainly have been a hazard of pre-Estonians for many centuries.
Bronze working appears in about 1800 BC and during the Viking age the Kundra culture mixes heavily with Germanic tribes and Scandinavian tribes. Cattle raising, seal hunting, seems to lead the trade potential of these early Estonians who are now very able in using the dolomite and limestone quaries to their constructions. With wealth comes a need to defend sovereignty and fortified settlements begin to emerge. In about 500 BC Estonia enters the iron age. In this age of iron working the Estonian are also advancing their funerary rituals and "Celtic fields", or underground enclosed burial graves are replacing the earlier "burial mounds".
The Romans make their appearance in the first centuries AD. The Estonians are placed on trading routes between Scandinavia and Byzantium. While the Estonians are more into raising animals than into agriculture they nonetheless have surpluses of grains which they export in about 1200 AD.
In the 1700's Russian Czars became the rulers of pre-Estonian society. With the Czars of Russia came the Orthodox Russian Church. This period is marked by places of worship like the Alexander Nevski cathedral in Tulinn.
In 1945 the Soviets occupy the Republic of Estonia and religious worshippers were persecuted. This religious repression continued into the 1980's. The fight for indepence sees a resurgence of the Lutheran movement.
The currency of Estonia before it joined the European Union and adopted the Euro was the Estii Kroon which was broken into 100 senti. The Kroon replaced the Ruble in 1992 and became pegged to the Euro.
Albert I of Germany
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| Rex Albert I of Germany |
From his mother's bloodline, Duke Albrecht blood reaches into the bloodline of the kings of the German dynasty. Gertrude is the daughter of Count Buchard V of Hohenberg and his wife Mechntild of Tubingen.
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| House of Habsburg Coat of Arms (wikimedia) |
Albert I of Habsburg is the eldest son and goes on to inherit the kings crown for Germany but not on the death of his father. When Rudolf I dies his crown goes to Adolf of Nassau-Weiburg. Albert I does become King of the Roman later when Adolf met his death in the Battle of Golheim (1298).
Albert marries Elizabeth who is of the bloodline of the Babenberg. This lineage stretches farther back than the Habsburg bloodline.
Albert and Gertrude have about ten children.
He is said to be the founder of the great house of Habsburg in some books.
Albert I dies in 1308 and he is succeeded as King of Germany by Henry VII. He is succeeded as Margrave of Mai(b)en by Friedrich II. He is succeeded as Duke of Austria and Styria by Frederick III the Fair and Leopald I.
Sidenote - A Graf is the equivalent of a Count. A Margrave is a noblemam of the mediavel period who inherited the military responsibility of defending a bordered land or province within a kingdom. A duke
Rudolf Von Hapsburg
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| cenotaph Rudolf von Hapsburg |
The name is synonymous to a system of monarchy which ruled parts of Europe for some 400 years. The Habsburg Empire ends in 1918.
The story of the House of Habsburg starts in 1250 BC when the faith of the Roman empire is passed into the hands a new lord. The Hohenstaufen dynasty is a time when German kings rule the Roman Empire. It's a period that lasts between 1138 and 1254 BC. The Hohenstaufen dynasty is often referred to as the German dynasty.
Some Habsburg had served as Counts to the German kings in parts of what is now Switzerland and south-west Germany.
A legitimate successor to the deceased German King Frederick II ( Holy Roman Emperor ) was being looked for. The gap in time to find this new Roman Emperor is called an interregna (between reigns ) and lasted some 20 years.
Count Rudolf Hapsburg is gaining wealth and territory in this period and is crowned as king in 1273. History has it that since the time of Constantine the papacy has had a lot of power in dictating who will be named the Holy Roman Emperor.
Count Rudolf von Hapsburg becomes a king of the Romans in 1273 but not "the" king of the Holy Roman Empire. He makes several pacts with pope Gregory X which are contracts to leave the powers of several Roman Empire territories in the rule of others.
King Rudolf sets up the stage for what would later become the Hapsburg dynasty. Rudolf Von Hapsburg begins life as Rudolph the fourth. Later he would become Rudolph I of Germany.
Rudolf Von Hapsburg lives from 1218 to 1291.
The Habsburg influency is continued by Albert I of Germany, Hartmann, and Duke Rudolf II of Austria.
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| Entry of Emperor Rudolf of Germany into Basle - painted by Pforr ( German Romantic Painter 1788-1812 ) |
What is the EuroMed ?
Travellers in Europe often use the EuRail system. The Euromed is one such train service. Euromed travels on a train line that runs through Barcelona, Valencia, and Alacant.
Other similar trains are the Altaria, and the Alaris. Eurail passes can be purchased for first class or second class transportation. Eurail services no less than 25 countries in Europe and Eurail passes are available for each of these European countries.
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| What is Euromed ? It is a rail service in Europe. |
Other similar trains are the Altaria, and the Alaris. Eurail passes can be purchased for first class or second class transportation. Eurail services no less than 25 countries in Europe and Eurail passes are available for each of these European countries.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Dali and Prince Faucigny Lucinge
Prince Faucigny Lucinge was an avid collector of art. This post looks at the relationship between the artist Salvador Dali and Prince Faucigny Lucinge.
The Marquis of Dali de Pubol was born Salvador Domingo Felipe Dali i Domenech. His life begins on May 11, 1904, in Figueres, Spain. As Salvador Dali the painter he becomes best known for works like The Basket of Bread, and The Persistence of Memory.
Dali once described himself as a fish swimming between " the cold water of art and the warm water of science". Like many other artists his artistic talent was somewhat influenced by a lifelong deep interest in science. He studied optics, physics, genetics, natural history, and many other science foundations and his surrealist paintings show the level of abstraction which the Spanish artist was capable of realizing.
Even a few years before his death in 1984 Dali is seriously contemplating the spiritual nature of science which is evident in a painting titled In Search of the Fourth Dimension (1979).
He meets Paul Eluard, aka. Eugene Grindel, one of the founders of the surrealist movement that took hold of the art world in the 1920's and included names like Picasso, Max Ernst, Dali, and others. Eluard was at one time married to Russian born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova who went by the name Gala. Gala meets Dali when they visit him in Spain in 1929. She leaves Eluard and marries Salvador Dali in 1934 after having lived with him since 1929.
In 1929 and 1930 Dali produces two films with Luis Brunuel. ( An Andalution Dog, The Golden Age ).
Dali became a leader of the Surrealists but was expelled from the Surrealist movement after being tried by the members beginning in 1934 for having clashing ideas.
Prince Aymon de Faucigny- Lucinge of Paris.
In 1903 Joseph Stickney, a wealthy railroad tycoon and land developer dies. His last project was the building of a huge resort in the Bretton Woods of New Hamshire. Joseph Stickney was married to the daughter of a Boston butcher. Caroline Foster Stickney was 34 years old when her 62 year old husband passed on and she goes on to inherit Mount Washington Resort and the rest of the Stickney fortune. Joseph Stickney's funeral was lavish and people like JP Morgan and William Rockefeller were invited to carry the casket to the final resting place. The Hotel near the White Mountain National Forest became famous in 1944 when it hosted the 44 nation conference which led to the signing of the Bretton Woods agreement.
Ten years pass and Carolyn continues to manage the Stickney fortune. In 1912 she meets Prince Faucigny-Lucinge of Paris and soon they are married. The marriage ends in 1922 when the Prince passes away. Carolyn (de facto Princess to her employees) Faucigny Lucinge passes away in 1936.
The Mount Washington Resort story becomes more interesting if one takes into consideration that many people claim that the ghost of the Stickney-Faucigny-Lucinge widow haunts room 314 to this very day.
However there is a problem at this point.
The Dali and Prince Faucigny Lucinge relationship cannot include Aymon de Faucigny Lucinge since he passes away in 1922 and according to Michael Elsohn Ross in Salvador Dali and the Surrealists, the Faucigny Lucinge character who influences collectors towards Dali's work only comes on the scene in the late 1920's.
So which French Prince Faucigny Lucinge is Ross talking about ?
The Prince Aymon de Faucigny Lucinge mentioned in the Stickney story was born to Louis de Faucigny-Lucinge and Amanda ( Henriette Victoria Amanda Marie de Mailly Nesle) on May 31, 1862. He dies at the age of 60 in 1922. Louis is the son of Ferdinand who is the son of the Marquis Amedee (Amedeus) who is the son of Count Joseph Louis
Faucigny Lucinge princes that live in 1930 include Bertrand, Gerard, Rodolphe, Humbert, Rogatien, more ?????
Enter Baba d'Erlanger to help us clarify the Dali and Prince Faucigny Lucinge mystery.
She was a Baroness and her real name was Liliane Marie Mathilde Beaumont. Baroness d'Erlanger was born in 1902 and became a professional mannequin and a socialite who hung out with the artistic crowd. Her father was Baron Emile Beaumont and he was a wealthy banker. Baba marries Jean Louis de Faucigny Lucinge in 1923.
Suddenly we know which French Prince Dali was being influenced by. The fashion Baroness turned Princess dies at Cannes in 1945 and Prince Jean Louis the Faucigny Lucinge lives from 1904 to 1992.
Jean Louis was the son of Prince Guy de Faucigny Lucinge who was the son of Prince Charles of Faucigny Lucinge who was the son of Ferdinand ( 1789-1866 ) - Prince of Cystria, who was the son of Amedeus (1755 - 1801) - Marquis de Coligny, who was the son of Joseph Louis (1731-1781) - Count of Lucinge.
The Dali and Prince Faucigny Lucinge is a story that encompasses personalities from Europe that go on to influence the Americas.
Faucigny is a location in Haute-Savoie, France. Haute Savoie translated to the romance language of Arpitan (Franco-Provencal) is Savoue d'Amont. The English know Faucigny as Upper Savoy. Faucigny is located in the Alps mountain range and part of the Rhone-Alps region.
The borders of Upper Savoy are Geneva, Switzerland on the north, the Swiss county of Valais and the Italian Aosta valley on the east, France's Ain district on the west, and the Savoy district on the south.
The story of the Prince begins in about 1000 BC with Rudolph I of Faucigny. Rudolph I fathers Aymon through Constance de Beauvoir.
This Aymon de Faucigny is a Count and has a daughter and a son. The son is a Baron named Henry I and the daughter is Beatrix. The mother is Clemencia.
The lineage traces a path into the future and could be traced back into the deeper past if one took the time to research it.
Lucinge is another community in Upper Savoy in France which has been populated since the stoneages. Some say the Etruscans who emerged out of the Mediterranean near Italy came to the area as early as 1000 BC and lived in close proximity with the Celts and Gauls. The Etruscans were perhaps somehow involved with the initial reforms against the Greek ideology. The legend of Mars giving birth to Remus and Romulus may somehow been borne out of the Etruscan mystery but that is only speculation.
Once the Romans have become a super power then the Gauls become a threat that they manage through politics and war in the Gallo-Roman period. The Gaulish culture is one where the Savoy people are Romanized. Here one finds all types of cults based on loose mixes of Celtic religious convictions and Latin monotheism after Constantine.
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| Dali paints a scene near Figueres at 6 years of age |
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| The Persistence of Memory |
Dali once described himself as a fish swimming between " the cold water of art and the warm water of science". Like many other artists his artistic talent was somewhat influenced by a lifelong deep interest in science. He studied optics, physics, genetics, natural history, and many other science foundations and his surrealist paintings show the level of abstraction which the Spanish artist was capable of realizing.
Even a few years before his death in 1984 Dali is seriously contemplating the spiritual nature of science which is evident in a painting titled In Search of the Fourth Dimension (1979).
He meets Paul Eluard, aka. Eugene Grindel, one of the founders of the surrealist movement that took hold of the art world in the 1920's and included names like Picasso, Max Ernst, Dali, and others. Eluard was at one time married to Russian born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova who went by the name Gala. Gala meets Dali when they visit him in Spain in 1929. She leaves Eluard and marries Salvador Dali in 1934 after having lived with him since 1929.
In 1929 and 1930 Dali produces two films with Luis Brunuel. ( An Andalution Dog, The Golden Age ).
Dali became a leader of the Surrealists but was expelled from the Surrealist movement after being tried by the members beginning in 1934 for having clashing ideas.
Prince Aymon de Faucigny- Lucinge of Paris.
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| Aymon de Faucigny Coat of Arms |
In 1903 Joseph Stickney, a wealthy railroad tycoon and land developer dies. His last project was the building of a huge resort in the Bretton Woods of New Hamshire. Joseph Stickney was married to the daughter of a Boston butcher. Caroline Foster Stickney was 34 years old when her 62 year old husband passed on and she goes on to inherit Mount Washington Resort and the rest of the Stickney fortune. Joseph Stickney's funeral was lavish and people like JP Morgan and William Rockefeller were invited to carry the casket to the final resting place. The Hotel near the White Mountain National Forest became famous in 1944 when it hosted the 44 nation conference which led to the signing of the Bretton Woods agreement.
Ten years pass and Carolyn continues to manage the Stickney fortune. In 1912 she meets Prince Faucigny-Lucinge of Paris and soon they are married. The marriage ends in 1922 when the Prince passes away. Carolyn (de facto Princess to her employees) Faucigny Lucinge passes away in 1936.
The Mount Washington Resort story becomes more interesting if one takes into consideration that many people claim that the ghost of the Stickney-Faucigny-Lucinge widow haunts room 314 to this very day.
However there is a problem at this point.
The Dali and Prince Faucigny Lucinge relationship cannot include Aymon de Faucigny Lucinge since he passes away in 1922 and according to Michael Elsohn Ross in Salvador Dali and the Surrealists, the Faucigny Lucinge character who influences collectors towards Dali's work only comes on the scene in the late 1920's.
So which French Prince Faucigny Lucinge is Ross talking about ?
The Prince Aymon de Faucigny Lucinge mentioned in the Stickney story was born to Louis de Faucigny-Lucinge and Amanda ( Henriette Victoria Amanda Marie de Mailly Nesle) on May 31, 1862. He dies at the age of 60 in 1922. Louis is the son of Ferdinand who is the son of the Marquis Amedee (Amedeus) who is the son of Count Joseph Louis
Faucigny Lucinge princes that live in 1930 include Bertrand, Gerard, Rodolphe, Humbert, Rogatien, more ?????
Enter Baba d'Erlanger to help us clarify the Dali and Prince Faucigny Lucinge mystery.
She was a Baroness and her real name was Liliane Marie Mathilde Beaumont. Baroness d'Erlanger was born in 1902 and became a professional mannequin and a socialite who hung out with the artistic crowd. Her father was Baron Emile Beaumont and he was a wealthy banker. Baba marries Jean Louis de Faucigny Lucinge in 1923.
Suddenly we know which French Prince Dali was being influenced by. The fashion Baroness turned Princess dies at Cannes in 1945 and Prince Jean Louis the Faucigny Lucinge lives from 1904 to 1992.
Jean Louis was the son of Prince Guy de Faucigny Lucinge who was the son of Prince Charles of Faucigny Lucinge who was the son of Ferdinand ( 1789-1866 ) - Prince of Cystria, who was the son of Amedeus (1755 - 1801) - Marquis de Coligny, who was the son of Joseph Louis (1731-1781) - Count of Lucinge.
The Dali and Prince Faucigny Lucinge is a story that encompasses personalities from Europe that go on to influence the Americas.
Faucigny is a location in Haute-Savoie, France. Haute Savoie translated to the romance language of Arpitan (Franco-Provencal) is Savoue d'Amont. The English know Faucigny as Upper Savoy. Faucigny is located in the Alps mountain range and part of the Rhone-Alps region.
The borders of Upper Savoy are Geneva, Switzerland on the north, the Swiss county of Valais and the Italian Aosta valley on the east, France's Ain district on the west, and the Savoy district on the south.
The story of the Prince begins in about 1000 BC with Rudolph I of Faucigny. Rudolph I fathers Aymon through Constance de Beauvoir.
This Aymon de Faucigny is a Count and has a daughter and a son. The son is a Baron named Henry I and the daughter is Beatrix. The mother is Clemencia.
The lineage traces a path into the future and could be traced back into the deeper past if one took the time to research it.
Lucinge is another community in Upper Savoy in France which has been populated since the stoneages. Some say the Etruscans who emerged out of the Mediterranean near Italy came to the area as early as 1000 BC and lived in close proximity with the Celts and Gauls. The Etruscans were perhaps somehow involved with the initial reforms against the Greek ideology. The legend of Mars giving birth to Remus and Romulus may somehow been borne out of the Etruscan mystery but that is only speculation.
Once the Romans have become a super power then the Gauls become a threat that they manage through politics and war in the Gallo-Roman period. The Gaulish culture is one where the Savoy people are Romanized. Here one finds all types of cults based on loose mixes of Celtic religious convictions and Latin monotheism after Constantine.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Belgium before being a European Union nation
What was Belgium before being a European Union nation ?
Ceasar, the Roman Emporer, moves to conquer Gaul and mentions the Belgae. Gaul in latin is Gallia and refers to the western region of Europe approximately where France is today.
Ceasar states in 50BC
"...most of the Belgae descend from the Germani and had crossed the Rhine in ancient times because of the fertility of the soil and expelled the Gauls who had inhabited this place. "
Belinos (Belenus) is a celtic deity somewhat similar to the Greco-Roman Apollo. Likely this is where the term Belga comes from. Bel is also a deity from the pantheon of the Sumerians. Belit is the feminine form of Bel and they are creation deities. Without providing evidence, it is possible to see how Roman emperors who liken themselves to Apollo would be insulted by the presence of people worshipping Bel or Belinos. Belgae is the plural form of Belga and the adjective is Bel-gic. The Gaul was an old French population and Belgium in french is Belgique.
John Koch in Celtic Culture states this about the Belgae people.
The modern name Belgium is was officially adopted in 1831 when the Netherlands seperated themselves into an independent political entity. Belgium is named after the ancient Gallia Belgica.
After Caesar invades Gallia Belgica the Romans occupy the area for some 500 years and are conquered by the Germanic Franks. At the turn of the first millenium the Vikings had turned the Gallia into groups of feudal domains. French kings and German emperors ruled but their rule was subject to the respect of Counts who ruled fiefdoms. These Counts built fortified castles in places like Flanders and Ghent and ruled has vassals to the kings and emperors.
The Gallia Belgica was a bustling trading ground and traders were making connections far into other areas. Feudalism fades away and towns begin to pop up everywhere along the trading routes. Flemish cloth was being loaded on merchant ships and was being exported along with lead, tin, coal, and more. The small towns became evermore powerful as the craftsman started to unite and the Flemish counts were losing their dominion.
The French kings were seeing opportunity here and tried to gain total control of Flanders.
In 1302 war broke out and the Battle of the Golden Spurs brought French Knights and Flemish militia together. The Flemish rebels won the battle and Flanders gained independence.
In the century following Burgundian dukes ruled the Gallia Belgica. At this time we get the term Conditor Belgii which translates to Belgiums founder. This title is given to Philip the Good who ruled from 1419 to 1467. Philip the Good ruled from Brussels and was amongst the wealthiest Europeans. In his age the first University is founded in the area and much great art and architecture provides cultural evidence of the rise of the Belgic people.
Gallia Belgica is part of the Low countries of western Europe. In 1519 new Roman Emperor was crowned. Charles the fifth ruled out of Spain. Earlier in life Charles V was risen to the position of Duke of Brabant and as such ruled the Low countries. He too ruled from Brussels as Duke of Brabant. As Roman Emporer he ruled from Spain. In later life he returns to rule from Brussels.
Interesting to this day and age the Belgium city of Brussels is the de facto capital city of the European Union. Belgium is today one of the seventeen nations trading the Euro and Eurozone member.
In the Dukes age Catholics and Protestants were setting the stage for the religious reformations that would change the Christian world. Charles was on the Catholics side and flooded the Low countries with Catholic mercenaries.
The Roman Emperor of Spain marked the area as the Spanish Netherlands and forced protestants out. Many of these protestants ended up in Plymouth where they embarked on a journey to the New World which will in a few centuries become the United States of America.
It is when Charles V hands over the Spanish Netherlands to Archduke Albert of Austria, husband of Infanta Isabella, daughter of Charles V, that the low countries boundaries truly start to emerge.
By 1650 the economic foundation of the low countries, mostly the cloth industry, had been lost to England. Poverty was rampant. Rebellion was met with war and the low countries or Spanish Netherlands were annexed to Austrian rulers.
This brings on the Austrian Hapsburg dynasty followed by a French conquest by Napoleon in the early 1800's.
The Battle of Waterloo in Brussels is resolved through the creation of the Netherlands United Kingdom. The Benelux nations of the UK are Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
In 1830 the Benelux nation is dissolved at the London Conference and Belgium receives its independence. The Saxe-Coburg Leopold I becomes the first king of the monarchy of Belgium. His son succeeds him. The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha lineage formed through the merger of Saxon stock and Frankish stock.
Under the Leopold's Belgiums economy boomed mostly through industrial power and Belgian expansion into Africa. In 1908 Congo, Africa was annexed to Belgium.
King Albert I saw Belgium through the first world war. King Leopald III saw them through WW II.
In 1952 Belgium is one of the six nations that founds the European Coal and Steel Community. The ECSC is the first pillar of what will become the European Union. Belgium traded its own currency called the Belgium Franc until 1999 when it was amongst the first European Union nations to enter the Eurozone and to trade the Euro exclusively. By 2002 the process was complete and the Belgium Franc was pulled out of circulation.
And that was Belgium before being a European Union nation.
Typos are free.
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| Belgium Flag |
Ceasar states in 50BC
"...most of the Belgae descend from the Germani and had crossed the Rhine in ancient times because of the fertility of the soil and expelled the Gauls who had inhabited this place. "
Belinos (Belenus) is a celtic deity somewhat similar to the Greco-Roman Apollo. Likely this is where the term Belga comes from. Bel is also a deity from the pantheon of the Sumerians. Belit is the feminine form of Bel and they are creation deities. Without providing evidence, it is possible to see how Roman emperors who liken themselves to Apollo would be insulted by the presence of people worshipping Bel or Belinos. Belgae is the plural form of Belga and the adjective is Bel-gic. The Gaul was an old French population and Belgium in french is Belgique.
John Koch in Celtic Culture states this about the Belgae people.
The Belgae were a sub group of the Gauls whose territory extended from the Seine to the Rhine, in what is now Belgium, northern France, the rhineland in Germany, Luxembourg, and the southern Netherlands.The Belgae population was vast and many tribes existed including some of these :
- Morini
- Remi
- Suessiones
- Ambiani
- Parisii
- Bellovaci
- and more
The modern name Belgium is was officially adopted in 1831 when the Netherlands seperated themselves into an independent political entity. Belgium is named after the ancient Gallia Belgica.
After Caesar invades Gallia Belgica the Romans occupy the area for some 500 years and are conquered by the Germanic Franks. At the turn of the first millenium the Vikings had turned the Gallia into groups of feudal domains. French kings and German emperors ruled but their rule was subject to the respect of Counts who ruled fiefdoms. These Counts built fortified castles in places like Flanders and Ghent and ruled has vassals to the kings and emperors.
The Gallia Belgica was a bustling trading ground and traders were making connections far into other areas. Feudalism fades away and towns begin to pop up everywhere along the trading routes. Flemish cloth was being loaded on merchant ships and was being exported along with lead, tin, coal, and more. The small towns became evermore powerful as the craftsman started to unite and the Flemish counts were losing their dominion.
The French kings were seeing opportunity here and tried to gain total control of Flanders.
In 1302 war broke out and the Battle of the Golden Spurs brought French Knights and Flemish militia together. The Flemish rebels won the battle and Flanders gained independence.
In the century following Burgundian dukes ruled the Gallia Belgica. At this time we get the term Conditor Belgii which translates to Belgiums founder. This title is given to Philip the Good who ruled from 1419 to 1467. Philip the Good ruled from Brussels and was amongst the wealthiest Europeans. In his age the first University is founded in the area and much great art and architecture provides cultural evidence of the rise of the Belgic people.
Gallia Belgica is part of the Low countries of western Europe. In 1519 new Roman Emperor was crowned. Charles the fifth ruled out of Spain. Earlier in life Charles V was risen to the position of Duke of Brabant and as such ruled the Low countries. He too ruled from Brussels as Duke of Brabant. As Roman Emporer he ruled from Spain. In later life he returns to rule from Brussels.
Interesting to this day and age the Belgium city of Brussels is the de facto capital city of the European Union. Belgium is today one of the seventeen nations trading the Euro and Eurozone member.
In the Dukes age Catholics and Protestants were setting the stage for the religious reformations that would change the Christian world. Charles was on the Catholics side and flooded the Low countries with Catholic mercenaries.
The Roman Emperor of Spain marked the area as the Spanish Netherlands and forced protestants out. Many of these protestants ended up in Plymouth where they embarked on a journey to the New World which will in a few centuries become the United States of America.
It is when Charles V hands over the Spanish Netherlands to Archduke Albert of Austria, husband of Infanta Isabella, daughter of Charles V, that the low countries boundaries truly start to emerge.
By 1650 the economic foundation of the low countries, mostly the cloth industry, had been lost to England. Poverty was rampant. Rebellion was met with war and the low countries or Spanish Netherlands were annexed to Austrian rulers.
This brings on the Austrian Hapsburg dynasty followed by a French conquest by Napoleon in the early 1800's.
The Battle of Waterloo in Brussels is resolved through the creation of the Netherlands United Kingdom. The Benelux nations of the UK are Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
In 1830 the Benelux nation is dissolved at the London Conference and Belgium receives its independence. The Saxe-Coburg Leopold I becomes the first king of the monarchy of Belgium. His son succeeds him. The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha lineage formed through the merger of Saxon stock and Frankish stock.
Under the Leopold's Belgiums economy boomed mostly through industrial power and Belgian expansion into Africa. In 1908 Congo, Africa was annexed to Belgium.
King Albert I saw Belgium through the first world war. King Leopald III saw them through WW II.
In 1952 Belgium is one of the six nations that founds the European Coal and Steel Community. The ECSC is the first pillar of what will become the European Union. Belgium traded its own currency called the Belgium Franc until 1999 when it was amongst the first European Union nations to enter the Eurozone and to trade the Euro exclusively. By 2002 the process was complete and the Belgium Franc was pulled out of circulation.
And that was Belgium before being a European Union nation.
Typos are free.
Greece before being a European Union nation
What was Greece before being a European Union nation ?
The neolithic stoneage people knew of the small island in the Mediterranean sea which today we call Crete. The Heraklion Archeological Museum is full of ancient Greek history that dates back to at least 6300 BC. Crete is one of several peripheral islands that are closely knitted into Greek history.
Heraklion is largest city of Crete and Crete is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean.
Greece borders the Aegean sea, the Mediterranean sea, and the Ionian sea. These borders provided great defense in the old world. History is full of records of sea battles between Greece, the Turks, the Romans, and others.
By 1500 BC the Minoans had made their mark on Crete. The Minoans are sometimes credited with creating the first civilization in Europe. They began influencing the island in about 2700 BC and were skilled bronze workers. These people of Crete named by Arthur Evans after the mythical king Minos were conquered by the Mycenaean. The Minoan palaces were taken down and replaces in time. Mycenae was a fortified palace in the Peloponnese. The most popular Mycenaean King was likely Agememnon who is the legendary warlord who took his loyal followers into the Trojan war.
Initially the Mycenaeans and the Minoans were heavily involved in international trade and both were exceptional sea voyagers. However the Kings of Mycenae who ruled from the north of Argos came to dominate the suzerains of King Minos.
View Larger Map
Some legends have it that the lineage patron of Mycenae was none other than Perseus who was fathered by Zeus and mothered by Danae.
Perseus went to the cave of Graeae where strange women shared one eye and stole this oracle from them. " I have your eye", he said, " and if you don't direct me to the Nymph of the North........" This type of tale is the mystery behind the beginnings of the Greek culture. These are the stories of Medusa's serpents and of dragon's lairs and of one eyed cyclops and gorgons.
By 1000 BC the Mycenaeans have all but disappeared and Greece is in a dark age. When Homer comes of age in about 700 or 800 BC he is recounting the poiesis of Genesis and defining the villains and heroes who existed before the dark age.
After the dark age a slew of city states such as Sparta, Corinth, and Athens, rose into prominence. Each city state had its own political system but when the whole was threatened they would come together has one ( riding on the back of Perseus ) to defend the greater whole.
The Persian Empire led by King Xerxes starts invading the Greek Empire by 500 BC and the Greco-Persian wars continue to to plague the city states of Greece for about 50 years. At this time the forefathers of the great Greek philosopher Plato are amongst the leaders of the courts of Greece.
On the footsteps of the Persian wars came a generation of Peloponnesian war.
Plato is born in 427 BC and witnesses the tyranny of this period in Greece. This is the age of synthesis in Greece where oligarchical rule is about to merge with democracy. Plato writes a great thesis called the Republic which goes on to be used as a foundation for political ideology and continues to be studied today.
Plato also founds a great school called the Academy which is often considered the first University.
Alexander the Great follows on the footsteps of Greeks like Plato and Aristotle, and Democrates.......
Alexander the Great Macedon built an Empire for the Greeks but on his death the legacy quickly crumbled. His empire was divided between Ptolemy who received Egypt, Seleucus who received Persia, and Antigonus who received Greece and the league of cities loyal to Greece.
Then the Romans came.
The Roman story starts in a legend devoted to Remus and Romulas and the god Mars and possibly to the age of Homer. By 300 BC the people of Rome are building fortunes by conquering small territories where they can graze pasture to trade. In 146 BC the Romans go into battle with the Corinthians and conquer Greece.
In the early Christian era Paul of Tarsus, one of the apostles, is recorded as having preached for converts in Corinth and Athens.
The Roman influence in Greece is prominent for several hundred years. During this time Greece is no more than a Roman province. In the later part of this period Greece is further divided into smaller provinces ; Macedonia, Creta, Thessalia,.........and the pagan culture is being menaced by monotheist goths. The Christian Goths were productive in converting pagan Roman and Greek speaking Romans of Byzantine. The last straw for the Roman pagan force might be the conversion of Emporer Constantine in 313 AD.
Constantine is also responsible for moving the Roman capital to Constantinople which is on the border of the Byzantium world where Greek speaking Romans rule. By 550 AD the population of Constantinople has risen to nearly 1 million while the population of Rome, the old capital is now at about 30 thousand.
Persians, Langobards, Avars, and Slavs continue to threaten the Greek Romans until about 800 AD when Greece begins to see new economic recovery and the restoration of architecture and of cities. Still it remains a part of the Byzantine Empire and continues to be tossed around by political crisis.
The Greeks lose Constantinople in the 13th century when Latin crusaders conquered the capital. The Ottomans destroyed the last of the Byzantine Empire by 1450 AD.
With the Ottoman Empire came the Turks and the Ottomans ruled Greece until the Battle of Navarino in 1827. By this time many Greek Romans had converted to Islam.
This 1827 war was fought six years after the Annunciation of the Theotokos when Greeks began a rebellion for independence. France, Britain, and Russia helped the Greek independence cause. From 1832 to 1947 Greece expanded as a monarchy led by kings. The initial independence efforts had attempted republic rule but European forces pushed for a kingdom of Greece.
From 1944 to 1944 Greece was fighting a civil war. The US (NATO) supported Greek political names who looked to fight a military party with communist ideals.
Once this war ended the US pumped a lot of money into Greece to promote economic growth. However the balance of power between Communism and Constitutional Democracy has continued to flare up and all types of political powers have tried to influence the rule of law including the CIA.
In 1973 the Monarchy in Greece was ruled has a dictatorship after some coup d'etat ( complicated situation that needs more research ).
In 1975 the Monarchy was abandoned and ironically enough King Constantine the Second was the last Monarch. The new government of Greece was a Democratic Republic
There you have a limited "Greece before being a European nation " story.
Greece joined the European Union in 1981 and on January 1, 2001 became a fully accredited Eurozone nation and the Greek Drachma went the way of the DoDo bird when the Euro become the official currency traded on the interal markets of Greece and in international trade.
The 2010 Greek economic crisis is truly testing the wisdom behind the single currency European concept.
Greece before being a European Union nation is certainly full of details and the more one digs, the more one wants to know.
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| Greek modern flag |
Heraklion is largest city of Crete and Crete is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean.
Greece borders the Aegean sea, the Mediterranean sea, and the Ionian sea. These borders provided great defense in the old world. History is full of records of sea battles between Greece, the Turks, the Romans, and others.
By 1500 BC the Minoans had made their mark on Crete. The Minoans are sometimes credited with creating the first civilization in Europe. They began influencing the island in about 2700 BC and were skilled bronze workers. These people of Crete named by Arthur Evans after the mythical king Minos were conquered by the Mycenaean. The Minoan palaces were taken down and replaces in time. Mycenae was a fortified palace in the Peloponnese. The most popular Mycenaean King was likely Agememnon who is the legendary warlord who took his loyal followers into the Trojan war.
Initially the Mycenaeans and the Minoans were heavily involved in international trade and both were exceptional sea voyagers. However the Kings of Mycenae who ruled from the north of Argos came to dominate the suzerains of King Minos.
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Some legends have it that the lineage patron of Mycenae was none other than Perseus who was fathered by Zeus and mothered by Danae.
Perseus went to the cave of Graeae where strange women shared one eye and stole this oracle from them. " I have your eye", he said, " and if you don't direct me to the Nymph of the North........" This type of tale is the mystery behind the beginnings of the Greek culture. These are the stories of Medusa's serpents and of dragon's lairs and of one eyed cyclops and gorgons.
By 1000 BC the Mycenaeans have all but disappeared and Greece is in a dark age. When Homer comes of age in about 700 or 800 BC he is recounting the poiesis of Genesis and defining the villains and heroes who existed before the dark age.
After the dark age a slew of city states such as Sparta, Corinth, and Athens, rose into prominence. Each city state had its own political system but when the whole was threatened they would come together has one ( riding on the back of Perseus ) to defend the greater whole.
The Persian Empire led by King Xerxes starts invading the Greek Empire by 500 BC and the Greco-Persian wars continue to to plague the city states of Greece for about 50 years. At this time the forefathers of the great Greek philosopher Plato are amongst the leaders of the courts of Greece.
On the footsteps of the Persian wars came a generation of Peloponnesian war.
Plato is born in 427 BC and witnesses the tyranny of this period in Greece. This is the age of synthesis in Greece where oligarchical rule is about to merge with democracy. Plato writes a great thesis called the Republic which goes on to be used as a foundation for political ideology and continues to be studied today.
Plato also founds a great school called the Academy which is often considered the first University.
Alexander the Great follows on the footsteps of Greeks like Plato and Aristotle, and Democrates.......
Alexander the Great Macedon built an Empire for the Greeks but on his death the legacy quickly crumbled. His empire was divided between Ptolemy who received Egypt, Seleucus who received Persia, and Antigonus who received Greece and the league of cities loyal to Greece.
Then the Romans came.
The Roman story starts in a legend devoted to Remus and Romulas and the god Mars and possibly to the age of Homer. By 300 BC the people of Rome are building fortunes by conquering small territories where they can graze pasture to trade. In 146 BC the Romans go into battle with the Corinthians and conquer Greece.
In the early Christian era Paul of Tarsus, one of the apostles, is recorded as having preached for converts in Corinth and Athens.
The Roman influence in Greece is prominent for several hundred years. During this time Greece is no more than a Roman province. In the later part of this period Greece is further divided into smaller provinces ; Macedonia, Creta, Thessalia,.........and the pagan culture is being menaced by monotheist goths. The Christian Goths were productive in converting pagan Roman and Greek speaking Romans of Byzantine. The last straw for the Roman pagan force might be the conversion of Emporer Constantine in 313 AD.
Constantine is also responsible for moving the Roman capital to Constantinople which is on the border of the Byzantium world where Greek speaking Romans rule. By 550 AD the population of Constantinople has risen to nearly 1 million while the population of Rome, the old capital is now at about 30 thousand.
Persians, Langobards, Avars, and Slavs continue to threaten the Greek Romans until about 800 AD when Greece begins to see new economic recovery and the restoration of architecture and of cities. Still it remains a part of the Byzantine Empire and continues to be tossed around by political crisis.
The Greeks lose Constantinople in the 13th century when Latin crusaders conquered the capital. The Ottomans destroyed the last of the Byzantine Empire by 1450 AD.
With the Ottoman Empire came the Turks and the Ottomans ruled Greece until the Battle of Navarino in 1827. By this time many Greek Romans had converted to Islam.
This 1827 war was fought six years after the Annunciation of the Theotokos when Greeks began a rebellion for independence. France, Britain, and Russia helped the Greek independence cause. From 1832 to 1947 Greece expanded as a monarchy led by kings. The initial independence efforts had attempted republic rule but European forces pushed for a kingdom of Greece.
From 1944 to 1944 Greece was fighting a civil war. The US (NATO) supported Greek political names who looked to fight a military party with communist ideals.
Once this war ended the US pumped a lot of money into Greece to promote economic growth. However the balance of power between Communism and Constitutional Democracy has continued to flare up and all types of political powers have tried to influence the rule of law including the CIA.
In 1973 the Monarchy in Greece was ruled has a dictatorship after some coup d'etat ( complicated situation that needs more research ).
In 1975 the Monarchy was abandoned and ironically enough King Constantine the Second was the last Monarch. The new government of Greece was a Democratic Republic
There you have a limited "Greece before being a European nation " story.
Greece joined the European Union in 1981 and on January 1, 2001 became a fully accredited Eurozone nation and the Greek Drachma went the way of the DoDo bird when the Euro become the official currency traded on the interal markets of Greece and in international trade.
The 2010 Greek economic crisis is truly testing the wisdom behind the single currency European concept.
Greece before being a European Union nation is certainly full of details and the more one digs, the more one wants to know.
Turkish flag in Cyprus
Why is this Turkish flag carved in a Cyprus mountain ?
NE MUTLU TURKUM DIYENE generally translates to "Proud is he who calls himself a Turk" and this phrase is sometimes referred to as the national slogan of Turkey. It is one such motto. Turkish people have other mottos such as " Sovereignty rests unconditionally with the nation ", and " Peace in the homeland, peace in the world ".
Cyprus has been for generations a political hotspot battled between Greek nationalists and Turkish nationalists.
There are at least two mountains around Kaimakli that have the Turkish flag carved into them.
Search Kaimakli on Wikipedia and you get this...
Buyuk Kaimakli is a large North Eastern suburb located within the municipality of Nicosia since 1968 and borders the Green Line which divides the Capital between the Government controlled Greek areas and Turkish occupied suburb of Omorphita ( Kucuk Kaimakli ) . The population of the area was 10864 in 2001.
Northern Cyprus, or Kuzey Kibris in Turkish, is known officially as TRNC or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Kuzey Kibris was made a de facto independent republic in 1983 but this recognition is only respected by Turkish authorities. The Turk military sieged the north when the Greek Cypriots from the south tried to annex the island to Greece.
Tough story with many details..........
 |
| Turkish flag in Cyprus |
NE MUTLU TURKUM DIYENE generally translates to "Proud is he who calls himself a Turk" and this phrase is sometimes referred to as the national slogan of Turkey. It is one such motto. Turkish people have other mottos such as " Sovereignty rests unconditionally with the nation ", and " Peace in the homeland, peace in the world ".
Cyprus has been for generations a political hotspot battled between Greek nationalists and Turkish nationalists.
There are at least two mountains around Kaimakli that have the Turkish flag carved into them.
Search Kaimakli on Wikipedia and you get this...
Buyuk Kaimakli is a large North Eastern suburb located within the municipality of Nicosia since 1968 and borders the Green Line which divides the Capital between the Government controlled Greek areas and Turkish occupied suburb of Omorphita ( Kucuk Kaimakli ) . The population of the area was 10864 in 2001.
Northern Cyprus, or Kuzey Kibris in Turkish, is known officially as TRNC or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Kuzey Kibris was made a de facto independent republic in 1983 but this recognition is only respected by Turkish authorities. The Turk military sieged the north when the Greek Cypriots from the south tried to annex the island to Greece.
Tough story with many details..........
flags of the seventeen nations of the eurozone
This page serves as a quick review of the flags of the seventeen nations of the eurozone.
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| Finland |
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| Belgium |
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| Cyprus |
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| Greece |
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| Spain |
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| Slovania |
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| Slovakia |
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| France |
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| Germany |
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| Malta |
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| Netherlands |
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| Portugal |
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| Ireland |
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| Italy |
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| Luxembourg |
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| Austria |
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